PGA winner returns to scene of his prime

Rich Beem had five birdies, lipped out three other birdie putts and shot around even par in his first look at the longer Hazeltine National Golf Club on Sunday.

The winner of the 2002 PGA Championship at Hazeltine will play the course again this morning before heading to the Metrodome to take batting practice with the Twins at 3:15 p.m. and throw out the first pitch before tonight's game against the Yankees.

"I'm really looking forward to batting practice," Beem said Monday from the patio at Hazeltine. "I don't know if they have a full uniform for me, but I'm going out later [Monday] to get me some spikes."

Beem flew in Saturday night from his home in Austin, Texas, to get reacquainted with an old friend that will play 7,682 yards -- about 300 longer than in 2002 -- for the 91st PGA Championship on Aug. 13-16.

"It will play a little more difficult, but not a whole lot," said Beem, whose 10-under 278 beat Tiger Woods by one shot in 2002. "The winning score will depend more on what Mother Nature gives us that week."

Beem played Sunday with two Hazeltine members, including Patrick Hunt, a member of the 2009 PGA Championship executive committee and a friend of Beem's the past seven years. Hunt, a 3-handicap, shot 80 from the tips. Beem joked that he shot 62 before saying he didn't bother keeping score.

"Oh, he definitely was low 70s, and he wasn't even trying," Hunt said. "He was just getting a feel for how things have changed. He's playing very well right now."

Beem bogeyed the signature 16th hole, the same hole where he drained a 35-foot birdie putt in the final round in 2002. He also failed to reach the par-5 11th hole in two. In 2002, he eagled that hole in the final round after hitting a fairway wood from 248 yards to 6 feet from the pin. The hole is 606 yards, the same as in 2002.

On Monday, Beem walked the course with WCCO TV, the local affiliate for CBS, which will broadcast the PGA Championship. He tried to recreate that 248-yard second shot on 11, but came up short again.

"What can I say?" said Beem, now 39. "I don't hit it as far as I used to."

Beem hasn't won since the 2002 PGA Championship. He has one top-10 finish and eight missed cuts in 17 PGA Tour events this year. He is ranked No. 262 in the world.

He will play the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Ill., this week and the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee next week. Then, after a short vacation, he will return to Chaska as a confident man ready to play his first major of the year on a course he says is "very relaxing" to him.

"Absolutely," Beem said. "I can win."